Customer Reviews

SKLZ Pro Mini Basketball Hoop

5 star:		(140)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this for myself...and I am a 31 year old man...who likes to shoot some indoor hoops during the winter when its cold and there is nothing else to do. Anyway, I hard mounted this to my wall.....it is not set up for that so you need to take the door brackets off ...and you will need a drill, washers and some wood screws, a stud finder..etc. But this thing is sweet. It is like a real hoop and the thickness of the backboard doesnt matter. i have had 5 hoops before this and this is by far the best one. It will not break even with me taking 18 footers! The only downside is the ball seems a little heavy for the hoop. I am using the ball from my old hoop that is same size but lighter material....than again, i bet it holds up to the heavy ball. Highly reccomended!

Edit: After A year and a half the hoop is STILL solid! This hoop has easily seen over 10,000 shots and it looks exactly the way it did when I got it.

Only problem......THE BALL. Why don't they make a lighter replacement ball for this thing? The ball from my old hoop that I was using has died and it is impossible to find the same one or a light one like it that still bounces! I even offered to send my old ball into them as a prototype but they never got back to me. If anyone finds a good replacement ball please let us know! Love the hoop...hate the ball ):

13 years! That's how many years we have been buying, and re-buying indoor basketball hoops for our boys. Not one has lasted more than a few months - until now. This hoop has a strong backboard and a sturdy metal rim. Now, the rim is not a break-away style, and I assume if there is a lot of pressure or hanging on the rim, the plexiglass-type backboard could crack and/or break. But as long as their slam dunks do not get too out of control, this should last for a good long time. Extra bonus is the rubber padding on the back of the hoop and on the top hooks that hang on the door. No scratches on my front door and minimal black scuff marks after hours and hours of use. I would recommend this product to any "serious" indoor hoops player, especially those who keep buying the nerf-type hoops. It looks good, plays good and keeps my boys, and their friends, entertained during the winter months when it is too snowy or cold for them to use their outdoor hoop.

We bought this basketball hoop for our office. For the most part it is exactly what you would want for a fun way to pass the time...couple of negatives...

- the over the door hanger is too thick for most doors to close when the hoop is hanging on them. we tried to use it over the door, but just didn't work because we wanted to actually be able to close the door.

- unless you are kobe bryant or michael jordan, you will miss from time to time, and if you miss and the ball hits a wall or door, it will leave marks. we bought a different type of ball and we have no marks. :)

Finally after 3 cheap BB hoops this one takes the cake! I wish I would have bought this more expensive one to begin with. From the nerf bb hoop that broke after an 1 hour to the plastic rim that broke after a week, this is awesome quality. Its been 3 weeks and still going strong, for a kid who plays hard and dunks. It fits over the door great! I've given 2 as B-day gifts. No cons!

I posted a photo in the photo section of amazon. My girls love this thing.

Fits over the door perfect with tons of padding on the back to not scratch off the paint. Easy to assemble. Comes with a ball but the ball needs to be pumped up with a pump sold separately.

Nerf type balls or even plush type balls work just as well as the ball that is supplied. The ball that is supplied with is heavy duty and might knock some photos off the wall if they aren't nailed down so you been warned but other than that this thing is great.

Brent
[...]

We purchased this mini hoop basketball system for our son who plays with it in his room all the time. We had been through countless Nerf hoops, which tore up quickly even though we reinforced them. Our son loves this hoop for the durable backboard and the springing rim which allows him to enjoy many dunk shots. We love it for the durability, the great price, and the padding on the back which protects his door. He also likes the mini basketball which looks like a small version of the real thing. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a really good indoor basketball system. The only issue we had with it was a problem with the ball in the first week. It developed a lump that grew and deformed the ball. I contacted the maker of the product and they quickly sent a new replacement ball with a warning to be sure not to pump it up with any more than 2 lbs. of pressure. The new ball is working fine. I am totally satisfied with the purchase.

This goal was much nicer than I expected. My dad immediately bought one for my nephew after he saw how nice it was. The design is great and they thought of all the details (even pads all around the back and the hanging supports that go over the door). Two things they could have done better. A little better backboard support because the backboard does slightly bend if you pull on the rim (which I don't normally). Also, the ball is pretty heavy like a real rubber inflatable ball so I went and found a nerf ball that I like better. Other than that, it's perfect!

The SKLZ Pro Mini Basketball Hoop is a well-designed and well-executed product.
- 3 bolts to afix the hoop to the backboard. (2 bolts probably insufficient, imposing too much stress on the acrylic backboard. 4 bolts probably overkill, adding to cost, manufacturing precision requirements for matching up holes, and adding time/difficulty for user to assemble parts.)
- Comes with everything that you need to assemble the backboard, including a small wrench to tighten the bolts. Simple, painless assembly. (Caution: Do not overtorque the bolts. There's really no advantage to tightening the bolts too much, because the included lock nuts will hold securely. However, overtightening the bolts may induce stress fractures.)
- Good attention-to-detail on net and hoop hook points. Looks nice and works even better.
- Foam backing thoughtfully hidden behind backboard border stripes, so that it doesn't detract from the clean appearance of the clear acrylic backboard.
- All metal parts have a good "heft" to them. The springloaded hoop is designed to give under pressure. BUILT TO LAST!
- Fits nicely over my son's bedroom door. It's a tight fit to close the door, so we don't usually close the door - except when we're trying to avoid disturbing Mommy. (Well ... not disturb her TOO much. ;-)
- At a price point of just over twenty bucks, this is an excellent value.

The only thing that I don't like about this product is the ball. Oh, it is a very high quality ball - one that could be dribbled on a hardwood floor for some serious hoops, just like a regulation ball. However, inside the home, it's too heavy, too loud, and (potentially) too damaging to walls, windows, and anything else that gets in the way of the errant projectile. I'd much prefer it if the manufacturer provided a NERF ball, instead. Although foam balls can't be dribbled, we're just interested in shooting baskets.

Bottom line: The SKLZ Pro Mini Basketball Hoop is an excellent, quality product. Highly recommended for kids of all ages (including adults!), who like to shoot indoor hoops. Plan on separately purchasing a foam ball (5" diameter would be ideal, 4" diameter will suffice), if safety and sanity are a high priority in your family.

P.S. If you'd like to see what the product looks like in action, just log onto YouTube and search for "Sklz Mini Hoop". There are dozens of clips available.

Like all other reviews, the ball is the one knock on this FANTASTIC rim. It's heavy-duty rubber, so it's really loud when you're trying to shoot someplace quiet (aka the office).

I'm still looking for the right replacement, but other than that, it's the perfect indoor hoop.

Sidenote -- I didn't bother trying to hang it on the back of the door b/c of the height of the door. I would have been hitting the ceiling constantly. Instead, I made some spacers out of cardboard and hung it on the back of some overhead cabinets above my desk. It gives me room to put some arc on my shot.

"Shoot the J -- SHOOT IT!"

I used to have a Nerf hoop years ago that was plastic and came with a sponge ball. It was great but you couldn't dunk on it and the rim eventually broke.

For about twenty five bucks for this unit, you get a real metal hoop. It is really well made and it looks great.

Here is what I dislike about the unit:

When you put this thing over your door, you will probably have a little bit of a gap between the backboard mount and your door. The solution for this is already included in the package if you look hard enough. There is a cardboard rectangle in the packaging which is used to protect the backboard during shipping. Don't throw it out. Instead, cut it into little rectangles and stuff them between the rear of the backboard and the door. This will take away 90% of the loud banging sound. Unfortunately whenever you dunk the ball or the ball hits the rim dead on, the backboard lifts off of the door and creates a loud, obnoxious banging sound. Even though the backboard has foam backing, it is still incredibly loud. Drilling the backboard to the door or a wall in ineffective because the "lifting" which is created by dunking or missed shots is inevitable and you will crack the backboard if you try to secure it to anything with screws or clamps.

Here is my solution: By a new ball for this hoop. The ball that comes with it is made of real rubber and bounces like a real basketball. It is loud, heavy, and it's not the right type of ball for a mini hoop. Because of it's weight, the ball has too much momentum when you're shooting it around in a bedroom or a small room at close distances. Get one of those foam or thin rubber basketballs. Not only will you get more accurate shots but it will really solve the noise problem. Also if you miss a shot, the ball that is included can potentially damage your stuff if it goes flying onto your desk.

For the price, You'll be surprised how nice this unit looks. The rim is really solid metal and looks just like a real rim. Make sure you pick up an air pump if you don't have one as the ball arrives deflated.

Overall, great buy considering what you get for the price.

EDIT 3/3/11: I ended up returning the unit. I think the rim is actually not wide enough and the ball really is not useful. You will be surprised how many "bricks" you will be shooting with the included ball. Also, the noise issue still bothers me as I could not get it to go away. In many ways, the NERF hoops are better for use in your bedroom because they use a foam ball and they have wider rims. Also, with the SKLZ set, I'm sure if you dunk hard enough, you could damage the backboard because the mount puts a lot of stress on the backboard.

The SKLZ unit looks really good but it's not really fun to use because of the dimensions and the noise issue. Since a regular basketball is much larger, your hand has a lot of control as to exactly where the ball goes. With the smaller SKLZ ball, your hand is so big and the ball is so small and heavy that shooting is actually quite awkward and your shots are usually too strong or too short. This is where a foam ball becomes useful. I personally did not want to spend more money on another ball so I returned the whole unit.

My advice is to use foam balls indoors and just shoot a real basketball outside. This SKLZ system is not the best of both worlds.